The board of regents has approved a request from the University of Northern Iowa "to pay $2.4 million for a privately owned bookstore that has been serving its Cedar Falls campus for 80 years," the Courier reported." UNI plans to run University Book and Supply as a nonprofit.
The sale includes all the bookstore's assets, including the Hawkeye Bookstore at Hawkeye Community College. Currently, UNI does not own or operate its own bookstore, but "is looking to enter the bookselling business at a time of significant industry change, as options for digital books are forcing stores to diversify inventory or even close altogether," the Courier wrote.